Self-Driving Car Technology vs. Your Car Insurance Bill

Britain’s largest auto insurer, Direct Line, has been offering Tesla owners a sweet-sounding deal for the last few months: Enable Autopilot, the semi-autonomous driver-assist system, and get five percent off your yearly insurance premium. When the insurer announced the inducement in December, Tesla owners nearly broke the internet, as they rushed to crow, assuming they too were in line for a similar financial windfall. They were wrong. Advertisement – Continue Reading Below One problem is that this discount isn’t coming to America, for reasons we’ll explain. But there’s another surprising fact to consider: The cost of auto insurance in the driverless age might just increase, even though the number of crashes decreases. Even If We Wanted To Direct Line’s stated goal with this Tesla initiative is to encourage the use of the semi-autonomous (SAE Level 2/3) system in the United Kingdom. Accelerated adoption would help Direct and the rest of the insurance industry learn more about how self-driving technologies can cut down on roadway mishaps and fatalities, and reduce insurance claims in the process. Advertisement – Continue Reading Below This is an admirable and practical undertaking. There is preliminary evidence to support the claim that advanced driver-assist systems, especially Tesla’s Autopilot, have the potential to save lives. Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a study which showed that the Tesla crash rates dropped by almost 40 percent when drivers enabled Autosteer, the part of Autopilot that focuses solely on driving. However, even if American car insurance… [Read full story]